Heads-up the humming birds are headed so uth

[crusty 1]

I have Many ruby throated humming birds here every summer.They have now begun to leave.I,m always glad to have them here all summer but filling feeders gets to be a chore,not to mention the expense of 45-50 pnds. of sugar.What I,d like to ask is if any members have large populations of the ruby's will you post the info as I,m tring to learn thier migration habits and routes.Thanks much in advance for your help.Dave

 

[/pine]

where are you located?

I have been having to fill our two feeders about twice a week for the last 10 weeks or so here in N.E. GA...

we usually have a rash of them in the Spring then most move on until the Fall migration...but there are some that stay all summer and nest...

 

[blueriver]

Well here in SE Oklahoma we have 8 large feeders and they have been getting filled regulary since April ... and at this point no relieve in sight.

 

[KTurner]

50 lbs of sugar? How many birds are you feeding? I'd say 8 ounces of liquid lasts a week or so in our feeder.

We have a single feeder in front of our office window. I've never counted, but there's probably a bird on it every 10-15 minutes. Sometimes two. Most of the time, one just chases the other off. A few times, I've seen three, but that always involved a chase.

A few times a day, one will hover up to the office window for a bit (15 sec?) and go back/forth/up/down, then fly off.

(southeast VA)

Keith

 

[crusty 1]

where are you located?

I have been having to fill our two feeders about twice a week for the last 10 weeks or so here in N.E. GA...

we usually have a rash of them in the Spring then most move on until the Fall migration...but there are some that stay all summer and nest...

/pine,I,m in N.Mn.The birds are leaving about a week to 10 days earlier than normal.This doesn't bode well for what weather we may be in for:laughing:We did have a frost a few nights ago,also about a week ahead.I guess I normaly have about 60-70 birds here every year.They raise thier young and its been very interesting but I,d sure enjoy knowing which way they head to make the gulf crossing which is why I posted.Kinda like kids leaving home.Dave

 

[crusty 1]

blueriver and KTurner I have 4 40 oz. feeders that get filled about twice a week.I love having them here but almost glad to see them leave because of the work:laughingave

 

[blueriver]

The amount of Hummingbirds here is amazing ... I can not begin to count. There are times in the day that while sitting on the porch I get buzzed!!

The young ones amaze me ... also as tiny as they are they still feed in a heavy rain? One would think those rain drops would knock em out!!

 

[blueriver]

blueriver and KTurner I have 4 40 oz. feeders that get filled about twice a week.I love having them here but almost glad to see them leave because of the work:laughingave

Thats close to the same... ours are 16 ounce feeders and with 8 of them about the same only we fill them at least once a week.

 

[crusty 1]

I'll have my wife post som pics of the birds this weekend if we can.The grandkids are coming but we'll do our bestDave

 

[Lurch]

Heavy traffic here all summer. We feed a gallon+ a day. Can't even begin to count them all. Tapering off a little in the last week as the regulars are leaving but plenty of travelers coming through. Usually have a couple hardy souls that hang around till it's in the 40's.

 

[Kays Supply]

We are filling 4 feeders twice a day. We have the front of the house lined with red Cannas. They just keep coming, more every day. We really enjoy them. The feeders are on the front porch only 4 feet from the kitchen window. We get some really interesting shows , watching the fights.

 

[Gem99ultra]

We've had a couple that have been here all year, even through last winter. But now we're seeing a few strangers drop in for a refill. So, here near Galveston, TX, they must be on their way to somewhere.

They're all invited to spend the winter with us; we love 'em.

Jim

 

[NSBound]

Almost all of ours have already left town. I've seen just one in the yard each of the past 2 days, fattening up one last bit before their trip south.

 

[crusty 1]

good mornin,thanks for the hummer reports!Do you have the Ruby throated?Gem99ultra,I,d really like to hear about your sightings as I think the Rubies must gather in your neck of"the woods".People do drop by here to see the hummers as I guess most haven't seen the numbers I seem to get.I do make my sugar water at 3to1 and don't know if the extra sweet is why they come here or if it,s the location.I live in a small clearing surronded by woods.The hummers are an amazing little bird.I,v had the same ones return for many years,I know because I,ve had some that were off colored and one had a deformed wing.I,ve traced one for 8 years ,so they live longer than I'd have guessed.Some land on my shoulder when I change feeders.Again thanks for letting me know of your sightings,its interesting to hearDave

 

[Gem99ultra]

yes, the hummers we see are the red throated. I'm guessing that they stop off here on the way to Mexico for the winter. Winter here is generally from mid-January through February. Spring is on April 1st; fall is October 20th. We keep feeders out just about all year. We're running about 5# sugar per week. But they're well worth the cost. We love 'em!

We're staying with the 4:1 mix. Maybe that's why we see the same one's hitting the feeder about once every 5 minutes. They remind me of fighter jets. Love watching them, and apparently they love inspecting us too. They'll come up in front of us and just look us over throughly. Your mix well might be the reason for the heavy population. But I do know they like feeders that have good escape routes, i.e. not in the trees, so your feeder location is definitely a contributing factor to the heavy population.

I've only seen one batch of babies though. I thought they were bumble bees when I first saw them... about 3/8" long We do see nests and hatched out egg shells every once in a while, but seldom youngsters. And we've seen them mating out on the deck. It's a wonder that the hens survive! Totally unlike the mallards; the mallard hens are strickly ******.

 

[Luremaker]

Ours left North Grey County over the weekend. All summer we have between 5 and 15 humming birds coming to our feeders then last week it jumped to 25-30 birds for a few days. Now they have all moved on.

 

[crusty 1]

Thanks for your replies.Gem99ultra would you be so kind as to keep me posted on your sightings?I do believe you,re in the bullseye for the rubies?Its interesting to hear our different weather,winter here can start in october and run through may.Its interesting I once had a product warranty question and called the 800#,talked to a gal in s.Fl.,she asked me about the weather here and I told her that it was 36 below zero,she said ya sometimes it gets close to freezing there.I said mame,you,re misunder standing,its 36 degrees colder than your deepfreezer,her replie[oh my God]:laughingave

 

[skipmarcy]

Ours are still in full swing here, I have 2, 32 oz. and 1, 16 oz. feeders on our front porch and have to refill about every other day. Ours are the ruby-throated too and we definitely get some of the same birds every year - they come looking for the feeders in late March, early April - this is when I know to dig them out for the season. We usually have a few stay until it's pretty chilly here - maybe sometime in late October. When the feeders need a refill, I do it outside and the birds will fly all around me while I'm filling the bottles. I have neighbors that feed too so we must have alot of them around - I see as many as 30 or so around my 3 feeders lately and my one neighbor says the same at his place. My garden is about 200' in front of the porch and we raise alot of flowers in it for pollenators and of course the birds like some of the flowers too, plus the flower beds right at the porch help but they definitely prefer the feeders for easy pickins'. I also use the 4:1 mix and heat mine almost to a boil and of course let cool. I rinse the feeders out everytime I fill but when they get pretty funky I'll soak a few minutes in a bucket of bleach/water and use a pipe cleaner to clean the little holes out then rinse well and refill.

 

[clemsonfor]

My aunt always has lots of birds. She lives in SC about 1 hour south of charlotte, NC. In the past she use to have hundreds of birds, since moving 400 yards to a new home 10 years ago some never came back but she is slowly getting to the # she had before. I was there about a month ago and she told me she was filling her 16 feeders 6 times a day!!.

 

[clemsonfor]

I am bad about my feeders. I actually found one just this week in a closet? I had 2 up and i will feed regular then not for several days then it will be a couple weeks till i fill them up again. I keep them as i think each of my neighbors has a feeder and the wife has flowers that bloom all summer that they like. I have 1 of the big walmart ones with like 7 flowers on it , they will drain it and another large one bought at Lowes in a little over a day.